Patterson returns to classic thriller in “Cross”

“Cross’” the eighth book in the Alex Cross series by award winning author James Patterson, was recently released. The novel continues the series that began with “Along Came a Spider” and “Kiss the Girls,” both of which have become motion pictures. It features Alex Cross as the main character. While Alex is a devoted family man and an excellent pianist, he is also an FBI agent and one of the most sought after homicide detectives in the United States.

In “Cross,” Alex retires from the FBI and returns to the private psychology practice he left years earlier. Soon after his retirement, he is asked to consult on a case involving a serial rapist who frightens his victims with terrifying pictures of what will happen to them if they talk to the police. The police desperately need the victims to give details about the predator if he is ever to be stopped. The case eventually triggers a connection to Alex’s wife’s death. Alex’s wife, Maria, was gunned down by a drive by shooting years before, leaving Alex to raise his two young children alone. Alex has never been able to solve the homicide. This could allow justice to be served at long last.

“Cross” was refreshing in that it did not include too much detail about Alex’s ill-fated love life. The personal relationship drama in the rest of the series is a little excessive. After Maria’s death, Alex became involved with a secret service agent, Jezzie Flannigan. It turned out that Jezzie planned the kidnapping that Alex was trying to solve. She was eventually executed by lethal injection. After Jezzie, Alex becomes involved with Christine Johnson, the principal at his children’s elementary school. Christine was kidnapped by a serial killer Alex was tracking down. Over a year later she is found in Jamaica with a baby: Alex’s baby. Next, Alex becomes involved with an FBI agent who is murdered. After that, he becomes involved with an inspector across the country. This also does not work out, and Christine decides she wants her baby back. At the end of the seventh book, Alex becomes involved with his neighborhood doctor. Despite the fact that she is stabbed nearly to death and then moves to a different state in “Cross,” the personal drama in this book is low compared to the others. I believe that it is important to show Alex’s personal side as well as his professional life, but Patterson bogged his previous few novels down with too much personal relationship drama.

Without as many personal problems, the plot of “Cross” was able to get down to the classic thriller Patterson writes so well. The story pulled me in and did not let me go. I sat down and read the nearly 400 pages in one afternoon. The novel is jam-packed with action.